by After 50 active years of hit song making and international album sales well into the multi-millions, it’s safe to say that esteemed singer-songwriter and musician Gordon Lightfoot resides with some very exclusive company atop the list of all-time greats. His song catalog is incredibly vast and includes such immortals as “Early Morning Rain,” “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Carefree Highway,” “Sundown,” “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald,” Canadian Railroad Trilogy,” “Ribbon Of Darkness,” “Beautiful,” “Song For A Winter’s Night”, “Shadows”, “Rainy Day People”, “Did She Mention My Name” and “Summertime Dream” to name a few.
But, this year is special for the legendary artist who has announced plans for a cross-country USA tour entitled, “Gordon Lightfoot – 50 Years On The Carefree Highway”. The tour will feature his well- known hits as well as some deep album cuts for the die-hard fanatics. All of which are woven together with some of Lightfoot’s own behind the scenes stories and personal anecdotes about his historic 50-year musical career. The event is sure to be a great thrill for live audiences and anyone who enjoys hearing great music and seeing a living legend in person. He’ll be making a stop in Portland at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on Friday October 4.
Fri, Oct 4th
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
8pm, All Ages
Tickets available online, by phone, and in person at the Portland 5’s box office
Get tickets HERE
Gordon Lightfoot has recorded 20 albums and has five Grammy nominations. His songs have been aired regularly for 50 years, earning him Radio Singles Chart Positions in North America achieved by few others. Lightfoot’s radio hits in the USA have earned Five #1s, Five Top 10s and Thirteen Top 40 hits. In Canada he has earned Sixteen #1s, Eighteen Top 10s and Twenty One Top 40 hits.
Aside from his success in writing, singing and performing his own songs, Lightfoot has found fortune in having his songs recorded and performed by other great artists including: Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Jr., Marty Robbins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Judy Collins, Johnny Mathis, Anne Murray, Olivia Newton-John, Sarah McLachlan, Barbra Streisand, Peter Paul & Mary, Harry Belafonte, Jane’s Addiction, Richie Havens, Glen Campbell, Toby Keith, George Hamilton IV and Eric Clapton.
In June of 2012 Lightfoot’s legacy was further enhanced when he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame. Lightfoot was honored for his role in defining the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and ’70s. There are fewer than 400 inductees who make up the impressive roster enshrined in the Songwriters Hall of Fame including Barry Mann, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, Hal David and Burt Bacharach, John Fogerty, Bob Dylan, Isaac Hayes, Carole King, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Sir Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Brian Wilson, James Taylor, James Brown, Bruce Springsteen, Jim Croce, Phil Collins, Loretta Lynn, Jimmy Webb, Van Morrison, Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton, Diane Warren, Garth Brooks, Leon Russell and Leonard Cohen.
In his native Canada, Lightfoot has been decorated with the highest honors bestowed to a civilian including the Governor’s General Award and the Companion to the Order of Canada honor of merit. He has also won 17 Juno Awards – Canada’s equivalent to the Grammy Awards. Gordon is a member of Canada’s Walk of Fame and The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2007, Canada Post honored him by issuing an official Gordon Lightfoot postage stamp. Lightfoot is also in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. Gordon Lightfoot is an indelible part of the Canadian national spirit and regarded as perhaps the most prolific and greatest Canadian singer-songwriter of all time.
Carefree Highway – Gordon Lightfoot
